I like it! The central point reminds me of how martial artists will complain it’s too hot, too cold, too hard, too far, too early, too late, etc, etc, to train. We are supposed to be the keepers of the ancient warrior spirit. How disappointed would our forbears be to hear us whine about the discomfort of training when they lived lives infinitely tougher than we can perhaps appreciate? The same applies outside the dojo. We should not avoid discomfort, hard work and doing what needs done.

I catch myself doing this from time to time and I need to remind myself that the “weaker me” has no right to complain and needs to shut up so we can get on with it. A cathartic complain to a sympathetic ear every now and again can help get it out of the system and get us back on track. The danger is when we genuinely start to believe, even momentarily accept, that discomfort is a sign things are “unfair” or that something is “wrong”. Sure we need R&R too in order to charge the batteries and get ready for the next push, but to avoid discomfort totally and to complain when we find it on the path is not the “martial way”. I like videos like this. Always a good reminder of things we should not forget. Thanks for posting!

It is so easy to trick ourselves into saying 'tomorrow'. Well tomorrow never comes.

One of the saddest things is that it is not just the 'low achievers' that fail to reach their potential. I've known any number of good people in a number of fields who have never 'put themselves out there' - made blogs or published work - because their knowledge was good enough for them to realise that they didn't know it all. But rather than simply use that as a spur to learn more, they used it as a reign to hold them back - they never saw that what they knew and could do was so much better than many others.

I've known any number of good people in a number of fields who have never 'put themselves out there' - made blogs or published work - because their knowledge was good enough for them to realise that they didn't know it all. But rather than simply use that as a spur to learn more, they used it as a reign to hold them back

That’s a solid observation. Doing what I do, I often get asked by people how to go about sharing what they do with a wider audience. Almost all of these people have a lot offer and their work is very likely to gather much support. The trouble is that only a small percentage take the big step of actually standing up, saying “here I am”, and putting what they do on public view.

I get that it can feel scary to leave yourself open to public criticism. I also get that the thoughts of “who am I to say this” and “who am I to think others will be interested in this” are likely to arise. I also understand that some people are uncomfortable with being “self-publicists”. The bottom line though is that if you are not prepared to take that step and push yourself out there, no one is going to knock on your door and offer to do it for you.

I fully agree with your observation John as so much good information goes unshared and potential unfulfilled due to inappropriate “self-doubt”.